Bizarre entering and leaving France tale.

[Momac]

I did wonder if there was any point in answering that question.
Perhaps you were not aware that the govt had tabled emergency procedures to try & reduce the pread of covid.
Perhaps you were not aware of restrictions placed on the populus re cross border movement . Perhaps you had not turned on a VHF & listened to the warnings from the CG about possible fines of up to £10K for entering ports without following correct procedures in force at the time. Perhaps you were not aware of the French banning entry to their ports of visiting yachts.Perhaps you were not aware of govt's attempts on both sides of the channel to try & stop the spread of covid.
I suppose you thought that it was not just MPs & their staff, (on both sides of the house) that could have p..s ups after work, during work, whether they actually did any work, or not ?
Or as time passes all that has slipped out of memory for good.

If you felt so strongly on the matter why did neither you nor anyone else call the police ?

 

[Daydream believer]

If you felt so strongly on the matter why did neither you nor anyone else call the police ?

Thinking back I wish I had. Their attitude was so, "Ha Ha, look what we can do"
A number of my sailing friends have berated me for not having done so.

 

[Momac]

People and companies were not required to act as the covid police.
However you would have thought the harbour office would have notified the border police - maye they did?

 

[Daydream believer]

People and companies were not required to act as the covid police.
However you would have thought the harbour office would have notified the border police - maye they did?

I think that they may have been conned, because one of the crew was of British decent , who had lived in Dunkirk for the last 14 years. So if he did the signing in, with the French crew out of the way, they would have been taken for a british yacht. No ensign being flown.

 

[Momac]

I think that they may have been conned, because one of the crew was of British decent , who had lived in Dunkirk for the last 14 years. So if he did the signing in, with the French crew out of the way, they would have been taken for a british yacht. No ensign being flown.

That does sound probable.

 

[[3889]]

Doubt anyone will look for entry stamps on exit. My impression is it's all make-do until the electonic system comes in 'this year' .
I've entered Schengen through France and Italy transiting to a country where I have residence. On both occassions I've asked not to be stamped and it's been agreed to.

 

[BoatBouy]

They only need to scan the bar code like letters on the photo page (like swiping a credit card). Or pass it close to a contact less reader to read out the chip contents (like paying in the shop with a contactless credit card).

The Machine readable zone on the details page is used to generate a key to access the passport data on the NFC chip to prevent unauthorised reading of the passport chip.

“ReadID Me” app can read and verify that passport data is cryptographically signed by the issuing passport authority. I suspect in due course there will be the option to carry the signed data on your phone in lieu of a physical ID document. In 50 years time maybe the only place you will see a physical passport is in a museum.

 

[Neeves]

40 years, or so, ago I went to China, I made such visits every 3-4 months. Visas then were issued for arrival in a specific city and if you travelled your visa was extended for the next city. There was no major inconvenience as this was all handled by the people whom you were visiting. You were passed, like a bundle of meat, from host to host.

I left London on a direct flight to somewhere in China. The airline lacked the ability to read Chinese and were happy with the official looking visa. I arrived wherever and immigration made no comment.

My hosts picked me up at the airport and asked for my passport and my next destination.

They checked the passport and were alarmed as I had no visa for the city where I had arrived.

They mulled all this over, the answer they came up with was very simple.

As I had no visa for the city I was obviously not there as it was impossible to be in China without a visa (I was simply a figment of the imagination). As I was not there I did not need a visa for the next city. This was all carefully explained to my next hosts and I was passed round China from host to host, city to city - as a sort of 'non person'.

Jonathan

 

[Bouba]

I remember when they changed the law in Senegal....if you didn’t have an entry stamp the police were allowed to confiscate your car...and receive a portion of it as profit...so when you entered the country the customs post was strangely empty...but just down the road was a police roadblock...

 

[Irish Rover]

Last August a French boat sailed into ramsgate with 2 french & one english aboard ( he had lived in France for the last 14 years) They berthed withing 90 yds of the border force vessel
They did not fly an ensign. Stopped in Ramsgate for a couple of days. Spent some time drinking in the Royal Temple YC. Then sailed back to France. No one queried their movements in UK or France. All the time the CG were issuing warnings about covid & £10,000 fines for possible covid breaches. In the YC they made no attempt to social distance at any time. We were drinking on the balcony & they plonked themselves with us & I had to keep moving back to avoid one of them breathing all over me. I really felt inclined to notify border control but did not.
Border control is a total farce.

So you voluntarily spent enough time in their company to learn their life stories ?

 

[Bathdave]

I believe a couple of people are mixing up computer systems…

scanning passports to log entries in and out of Schengen is firmly up and running, and done at present by the douaniers. The passport stamp is not the primary record, but obviously provides evidence for both the passenger and the border force if they don’t have a handy scanner on their person during an inspection.

the system due to be rolled out is a ‘self-service‘ scanning tool which is due to be in marina offices.

my YC has arranged a couple of rally visits to St Malo where we have only provided a scanned copy of our passports …douaniers have entered the entries and exits on the Schengen border computer but we have no passport stamps

sadly I bailed out of the most recent trip this weekend due to bad weather for the return date, but I will have used up 2 days of my Schengen quota cos I will have been entered on their computer system

 

[harvey38]

If your UK passport is read by either swiping or placed on a glass reader then , it's been electronically stamped when arriving back in the UK.

 

[Birdseye]

Last August a French boat sailed into ramsgate with 2 french & one english aboard ( he had lived in France for the last 14 years) They berthed withing 90 yds of the border force vessel
They did not fly an ensign. Stopped in Ramsgate for a couple of days. Spent some time drinking in the Royal Temple YC. Then sailed back to France. No one queried their movements in UK or France. All the time the CG were issuing warnings about covid & £10,000 fines for possible covid breaches. In the YC they made no attempt to social distance at any time. We were drinking on the balcony & they plonked themselves with us & I had to keep moving back to avoid one of them breathing all over me. I really felt inclined to notify border control but did not.
Border control is a total farce.

Of course it is - thats how we get a million or so illegal immigrants dispersed over the UK. But border contraol arent special in that respect - the police are no better with over 90% of burglaries unsolved. And then there is the NHS with waits of over a year for issues that can be magically solved in a few days if you pay the same doctor privately. Meantime the government of both colours focus on passing laws as if that solves problems - the administration of those laws is often a joke.

Did you ever bother checking in with customs etc if you sailed back from the CI? I never did. How many times have you bought a service on the "cash no vat" basis. Do you stick to speed limits? Do you park on yellow lines?

Reality is that life depends on the generally good behaviour of the large majority rather than the total obedience of all.

 

[Birdseye]

If your UK passport is read by either swiping or placed on a glass reader then , it's been electronically stamped when arriving back in the UK.

After a 1.5 hour queue at Heathrow.

 

[chrishscorp]

If your UK passport is read by either swiping or placed on a glass reader then , it's been electronically stamped when arriving back in the UK.

And ?? our system is no longer linked to the one in Europe they can scan it a hundred times, means nothing.

 

[chrishscorp]

Helped deliver a yacht to Cherbourg the other week so probably just missed you John, we were met by the PAF at the marina office at 0900 the following morning and all passports stamped in no electronic gizmos or readers and they wanted paper copies of the PAF form that was emailed to their offices that they may or may not have received. I then left to go on a ferry from Caen the same day and passport was electronically swiped and stamped out.

 

[harvey38]

And ?? our system is no longer linked to the one in Europe they can scan it a hundred times, means nothing.

I know, hence I ended the sentence " When arriving back in the UK"

 

[[3889]]

If your UK passport is read by either swiping or placed on a glass reader then , it's been electronically stamped when arriving back in the UK.

What happens when you arrive in UK is irrelevant as far as Schengen is concerned. The stamp is applied by the Schengan country before departure.

 

[[3889]]

I believe a couple of people are mixing up computer systems…

scanning passports to log entries in and out of Schengen is firmly up and running, and done at present by the douaniers. The passport stamp is not the primary record, but obviously provides evidence for both the passenger and the border force if they don’t have a handy scanner on their person during an inspection.

the system due to be rolled out is a ‘self-service‘ scanning tool which is due to be in marina offices.

my YC has arranged a couple of rally visits to St Malo where we have only provided a scanned copy of our passports …douaniers have entered the entries and exits on the Schengen border computer but we have no passport stamps

sadly I bailed out of the most recent trip this weekend due to bad weather for the return date, but I will have used up 2 days of my Schengen quota cos I will have been entered on their computer system

If that was the case how come I've never been challenged for not having an entry stamp or a scanned passport, either on exit or during one spot inspection by the Spanish after entering through Italy? Maybe individual countries have an electronic database but AFAIK, and I stand to be corrected, the extant Schengan Information System creates alerts about the following:

• Individuals wanted for arrest
• Non-EU nationals who have been refused entry or stay in any Schengen country
• Missing persons
• Individuals whose assistance is required for judicial proceedings
• Objects to be seized or used as evidence in criminal trials
• Persons and objects for discreet or specific checks, e.g. for prevention of threats to public or national security.

It is not a general database of persons entering or leaving Schengen.

 

[Daydream believer]

So you voluntarily spent enough time in their company to learn their life stories ?

I was with agroup of my friends & they gate crashed our group. I kept backing away to maintain a social distance & one of my friends later suggested that he was waiting for me to fall off the balcony. In the end I upset one of the party( told him to shut the F up whilst I was speaking, ) & the whole group broke up. We left & went back to our boats.